Sunroom, Screened and Covered Porch Decorating and Design Ideas

Get inspired with clever layout and pretty fabrics, furniture, and accents to transform your sun room, screened or covered porch into the most-used space in your home.


Turn a Dead Corner into a Daybed
The typical furniture for many corners in sunrooms is a table and maybe a chair. But to take advantage of every square inch—particularly in smaller spaces—consider adding a stand-alone or built-in corner bench. Outfitted with cushions and decorative pillows, these cabinets also provide extra storage. Fabrics tie together the turquoise, yellow, and orange color scheme.













Create an Entertainment Zone
If your sunroom is fully protected from the elements, then you can easily include indoor-only items, such as lamps, stereos, and TVs. In fact, installing the latter two can help draw family and friends to more outdoor-focused areas at nighttime, allowing you to max out sunroom hours. Here, an eclectic mix of black and white patterns adds visual punch to the gray walls and window treatments.










Extend Your Living Space
Flooded with natural light from large sliding doors and transom windows, this sunroom breaks down the barriers between inside and outside spaces. Even so, its design vibe is in keeping with the rest of the home, with a comfy sofa, leather chair, and wood coffee table picking up on colors and materials used elsewhere.















Carve Out Small Nooks
Many sunrooms have multiple points of entry. If some of those are used less often, it may be OK to steal some space for a divided zone of activity. Here, most of the sunroom is given to living space, but the small, classical-style table and chairs offers a shady spot for outdoor eating.














Adapt Windows as Wall Space
This home’s sunroom had two entryways, one of which was rarely used. What it didn’t have was wall space, either for placement of a sofa or artwork. In an inventive adaptation of windows, the homeowners co-opted one of the doors in order to hang artwork and orient the furniture. The cushion on a narrow storage bench picks up the pattern in the graphic throw.













Add Pops of Color
Hardy elements—a slate floor, exterior shingles—seamlessly connect this interior space to the outside of the home. To add pretty color interest, the homeowners dressed up the dark wicker furniture with similar hues of bright colors such as turquoise, orange, and yellow.














Keep the Structure Casual
Many sunrooms resemble less outdoor structures than they do finished interior rooms. This one is a nice melding of the two design impulses, with a vaulted, open ceiling and unfinished walls accented by homey touches including pretty window treatments and a contemporary sectional sofa. To add practical storage, consider baskets (which also serve as decorating accents) under furniture.














Dress Up the Floor with Paint
This sunroom, originally a dining room, demonstrates a savvy ability to mix patterns and colors. Painted chairs offer a counterpoint to the wood table, while three different fabrics—each in a pretty blue-and-white pattern—dress up seats and seat backs. Underfoot, a painted rug stands as a graphic riff on the country French-inspired theme.